Xia is in his fifties. His understanding of his job as a grass-roots prosecutor in an underdeveloped area is simple enough, and can be summarized as ?being loyal to the law?; in the eyes of many people, however, Xia somewhat lacks ?worldly wisdom? because of this.

There is a story concerning him that spread widely in Jinyun County, a small mountainous district with a population of only 430,000 people. In 1999, grass-roots elections were underway in Lishui Prefecture and the event ranked highest on the agendas of the prefectural and county governments. An incident happened at a crucial time in these elections. In a small village in Jinyun County, several young men smashed the ballot box in anger at the electoral procedures. As the matter happened at a sensitive time, it soon became a hot topic all over the small county. At the special meetings held to settle the matter, some related governmental departments proposed to accuse those young men of ?breaching the election law.? However, Xia Meizhong, who was in charge of the Arrest Ratification Department of the County Procuratorate at that time, overrode all dissenting voices by saying that in law such a crime only applied to cases involving the election of members of the people?s congresses at various levels and the elections of leaders of state organs. Hence, he said, it was wrong to assign criminal responsibility to the young men, who had, in fact, breached the election of their Villagers? Committee, which is not an organization belonging to the local people?s congress.

Because Xia would refuse to arrest the young men, the determination of the case?s true nature soon evolved into a struggle between ?administrative power and the law.? For various reasons, even today many details of the matter remain vague. Recalling the great pressure he faced in the case, Xia was pensive as well as a little proud.

?My position on the matter was clear. First, I insisted on my opinion and was willing to hold all potential responsibility for it; second, I had packed my luggage and was ready to be posted to the County?s remotest town of Dayang, which is over 800 meters above sea level.?

In the end, however, Xia was not ?banished ? to Dayang Town, and the young people were not arrested, under the ratification of the Procuratorate, but only received due administrative punishment from the County?s Public Security Bureau.

Xia Meizhong?s stubbornness, with the support from the chief prosecutor of the County?s Procuratorate, finally safeguarded the dignity of the law and won him a fine reputation in the local judiciary.

This story is not a solitary case. Xia has experienced many such things.

?Xia?s loyalty to the law is always meaningful. It?s even relevant to today?s situation,? said a lawyer.

Just because of his loyalty to the law, Xia Meizhong has sometimes been said to be somewhat ?unkind.? In 1999, he was supervising investigations into two cases involving providing places for prostitution. The father and brother of the two suspects were both cadres in the local public security bureau and the father of one of the suspects was even Xia?s classmate. As soon as Xia took over the case, persons from all sides came to him to intercede for the suspects -- some through his friends and relatives, others through his direct superiors. Their approach was always the same -- to ask Xia to overlook the cases and leave them to the local public security bureau. But, Xia was not influenced by anyone, and lost no time in collecting evidence against the suspects and they finally had to answer for the crimes they had committed.

From 1999 to the present, Xia has handled 33 such cases that involved more than 70 people.

Xia Meizhong is an irritant for some people, while those who suffer judicial injustice see him as their spokesman.

?? When you came to Zouping County, Shandong to conduct an investigation, one party concerned wanted to buy something for you to show their gratitude, but you refused. Here we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to you for your justice, diligence and care ? ? a letter to Xia from Zouping County in east China?s Shandong read.

?During the 20 years when I have worked here ? many times ? I can?t remember the exact number ? ... there were parties and their friends and relatives bringing money and gifts to me and making intercessions -- these are inevitable. The part of those money, gifts and ancient paintings that have been documented should be worth over 30,000 yuan (US$3,629.06) but I never accepted a single penny, but sent everything back,? said Xia. For many city dwellers in China, 30,000 yuan might be small beer today, but in a small poor mountainous county it?s a fortune that is big enough to make many people bow and scrape. Xia never takes a penny, just because he is loyal to the law, not money.

The 20 years of hard work has cost Xia his health, and he has undergone two operations.

China has a strong tradition of honoring family, but Xia Meizhong, a prosecutor who is always engaged in work, has little time to spend with his family. Xia?s father died early and his mother and elder sister brought him up. His elder sister became his most beloved after his mother died. On January 4, 2000, Xia?s elder sister died and her family planned to hold the funeral three days later. At the hearing of the sad news, Xia sent his wife to his elder sister?s home to help the family make preparations for the funeral while he went out on an urgent case. But he never expected that he would be involved in a traffic accident and miss the funeral. This firm man had tears in his eyes when talking about this mater.

?I?ve got nothing to be ashamed of, but on this matter I will always regret.?

(China.org.cn by Chen Chao, July 18, 2002)